A black business owner in Atlanta who was preparing to reopen his shop after the coronavirus pandemic shuttered it for months said he lost everything when it was looted amid protests over the killing of George Floyd.
"I was traumatized," Dias said."I was with three black men and 15 police come to us and they're thinking I was trying to vandalize my own store."Dias said he found out on Friday night via social media that his fashion and sneaker shop, Attom, was being looted, and watched as clips rolled in of people smashing the windows with baseball bats.
"It's not the same. The people protesting and the people doing all this crazy stuff is not the same." "I'm with the people protesting, but don't be confused, because like I said there are people that are just trying to take advantage," he said. "I'm just hearing glass break ... I hear people screaming and yelling," he said."And then I hear gunshots."
"I understand what's going on in our world right now -- I am a young black male who has been dealing with police since I was at a young age," he said."I've been dealing with that my entire life and having the fear of the police, it sucks."
I wouldn't put it past some store owners but I don't think so here.